Cataclysmic events taking place beyond the vast reaches of the Milky Way have resulted in the reception of radio signals on our own planet, according to scientists. Members of the broadcast community can take comfort in the relative lack of access most consumers have to the device which received the signals.
In fact, the receiver which picked up the signal was the Parkes Radio Telescope – a type of receiver not generally available at a typical consumer electronics retail outlet.
There was more good news for broadcasters – the radio signals were too brief to realistically support paid advertising. It would stretch the capabilities of Earth’s most clock-savvy program director to attach even a 15-second commercial to radio programming lasting only five milliseconds. Not even a broadcaster of questionable ethical and moral fiber could pull that off.
The brief lifespan of the extra-galactic radio platform was another positive sign – the signals came, they went and they were not repeated.
Although some sort of cataclysm was blamed for the radio bursts, the exact nature of the catastrophe remains unknown. However, it is thought unlikely that it took the form of paying top dollar for extra-galactic broadcast facilities right on the cusp of an economic downturn, a confluence of events that has caused grief for many terrestrial broadcast operators.
RBR-TVBR observation: As if radio does not have enough new competition. With cable, satellite, internet and mobile platforms all doing their level best to encroach on broadcast’s territory, the last thing we need is programming from Marvin the Martian or somebody like him. We suggest that Marvin, if that’s who is was, should get back to harassing Bugs Bunny and leave Earthling broadcasters alone.
